Eric Williams (Earth-616)
, (leader); formerly ally of Space Phantom, Ultron, Nekra, Black Talon, Goliath (Erik Josten), Man-Ape; member of the Maggia, Former member of the , | Relatives = Sanford (father, deceased), Martha (mother), Wonder Man (Simon Williams) (brother), Vision ("brother"), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) (estranged "sister-in-law") | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Mobile | Gender = Male | Height = 6'4" | Weight = 225 lbs | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Brown | Hair2 = | UnusualFeatures = Prosthetic scythe in place of a right hand | CharRef = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Professional criminal | Education = | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = Paterson, New Jersey | PlaceOfDeath = | Creators = Roy Thomas; John Buscema | First = Avengers #52 | Death = Vision Vol 3 1 | HistoryText = Early Years Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams (also known as Wonder Man), was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Eric was always the black sheep of his family. His mother would tell him that he was 'born bad', while heaping affection on Simon. Eric's father was charged with disciplining him, but was abusive and uncaring. He even preferred to watch TV lazily, while Eric was torturing the family cat. At the same time, their mother Martha was loving and attentive to Simon, making Eric bitter and jealous as a result. One day Eric was playing with chemicals in the garage, and caused a fire which burned down their house. Simon felt guilty for having not stopped Eric, and resolved to be responsible for Eric from there on. As they grew older, Simon grew studious while Eric was an athlete. Eric also became more rebellious, and tried to get Simon to join him in his petty thefts. Eventually Eric joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas. Meanwhile Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. Partly due to competition with Stark Industries, Williams Innovations began to fail. Desperate, Simon turned to Eric and his mob ties for help. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Tony Stark by defeating Iron Man and the Avengers. Simon was transformed into Wonder Man, in order to infiltrate the Avengers. Zemo's empowering process also poisoned Simon, ensuring his loyalty in exchange for the antidote. Simon's better nature won out though, and he died saving the Avengers from Zemo's trap. Learning of Simon's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer who provided him with his scythe weapon. Taking the name "Grim Reaper," he defeated the Avengers but was beaten by the surprise appearance of the Panther. Later, the Grim Reaper confronted the Avengers with his Lethal Legion comprised of the Living Laser, Power Man, the Man-Ape and the Swordsman. The Legion was defeated when the Grim Reaper found himself unable to strike down the Vision, having discovered that he possessed Simon's brain-wave patterns. Vision met with Grim Reaper who offers him a proposition. If the Vision aided him in getting revenge on the Avengers, he would transfer the Vision's mind into the body of the deceased but preserved Wonder Man. Not giving into the Reaper's offer, the Vision refused, however the Reaper gave him a medallion that would put them into direct contact should the Vision change his mind. The Space Phantom returned, and teams up with the Grim Reaper. Space Phantom and the Grim Reaper imprisoned some of the Avengers. The Reaper found the Vision and offer again and took Vision back to where the body of Wonder Man was being stored. There, the Reaper revealed that he really cannot transfer the Vision's mind into Wonder Man's body, because Wonder Man is dead, however if they join forces he would transfer the Vision's mind into the body of Captain America. Trying to appeal to Vision, the Grim Reaper revealed his and the Space Phantom's plan. To this end, the Phantom took the form of Viper, and later the Supreme Hydra during Captain America's last battle against the terrorist organization. When the Phantom was unmasked by Cap, he paralysed the star-spangled Avenger and his partner, and then to facilitate their plot, the Space Phantom made the whole world forget that Captain America was Steve Rogers, suppressed Cap and Rick's memories of the event and sent them on their way. Without finally revealing his and the Space Phantom's plot, the Grim Reaper asked if the Vision will go along with their plan so that he may be human, a question in which the Vision answers "Yes." Vision goads the Grim Reaper into anger by suggesting that the Reaper is merely one of the Phantom's lackey's. This gave Captain America the chance to attack. The Vision explained to Cap that he was tricking the Reaper into believing the Vision had joined their cause in an attempt to free his captured comrades. The two Avengers then freed their friends and soon find themselves confronted by the Grim Reaper, Space Phantom and an army of Hydra soldiers. When the Phantom tries to kill the Vision, the Reaper attempted to stop him, and soon a battle erupted between Hydra and the Avengers. The Avengers are soon felled by one of the Phantom's weapons, except for the Scarlet Witch who escaped to summon Thor, and the Vision who was immune to the sonic attack. However, the Phantom got the Vision to surrender and allow him to be imprisoned when he threatened to kill the Grim Reaper. The Phantom then chased after the Scarlet Witch so she could not rouse Thor, and she was quickly captured. Phantom then arrived at the Avengers Mansion and attacked Jarvis and Rick Jones. Rick turning into Captain Marvel then freed the Avengers and they all make short work of the Hydra army. Marvel explains to the others that when Rick clashed the Nega-Bands, the Space Phantom's powers attempted to become two people at once and that proved to be too much and so the Phantom was transported to Limbo, while Rick was transported to the Negative Zone as usual. The Avengers allowed the Grim Reaper to go free. Secret War Grim Reaper was part of the aftermath of the Secret War that had been arranged by Nick Fury against Latveria. He was among the villains who had been given technology by Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas and sent to kill the heroes who had been involved in the Secret War Civil War The Grim Reaper was apparently one of the many villains who escaped from the Raft prison. After being at large for several months, the Grim Reaper was eventually tracked down by Captain America and Cable, who together with their other friends brought the Reaper down. Vulture and Grim Reaper beaten to a pulp and chained to a column. He was placed back into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. Grim Reaper was next seen teamed with Man-Ape & Saboteur; how he escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. is uncertain. Dark Reign The Grim Reaper later formed a new lineup of the Lethal Legion as part of a plan against Norman Osborn, after Osborn's rise to power. The team is ultimately defeated by the Dark Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and imprisoned in The Raft. While there, the Grim Reaper is stabbed in the heart by an inmate loyal to Osborn, and has to undergo an operation. It is also revealed that his brother Simon is a member of the Legion, also imprisoned in the Raft. It was then revealed that Grim Reaper had formed the Legion so Osborn could be seen as a hero for taking them down, as well as have Wonder Man look bad and make him and his Avengers look better to the originals. With his death faked he then left for Europe to set up a new power base for Osborn. Chaos War When the mad god Amatsu-Mikaboshi declared war on the pantheons of all worlds, he instigated the Chaos War by rallying an army of alien deities and destroyed the realms of the dead, flooding souls into the world of the living. Williams was chosen as one of his servants, who, along with Nekra, were charged with killing the Avengers. In order to defend them, Vision, whose soul was returned to Earth along with other fallen heroes, detonated himself, killing Williams in the process. The Grim Reaper and the Lethal Legion try to escape from escape from jail but are stopped by the Avengers. Uncanny Avengers Eric attempted to kill the Scarlet Witch but Rogue absorbed his powers and punched him, apparently killing him, although claiming she barely hit him. Horseman of Death Grim Reaper was brought back to life by the Apocalypse Twins, using both the Life Seed and Death Seed, in order to serve, alongside Banshee, Sentry and Daken, as one of their Horsemen of Death. He is seemingly killed by Rogue who punches him harder than she expected after absorbing Wonder Man's powers. He attacked his brother Simon, defeating and capturing him. When the Twin's plan to destroy Earth failed, and their ark was destroyed by Sunfire, Grim Reaper and Daken returned to Earth along with the corpses of the Apocalypse Twins. All-New, All-Different Marvel After the Vision purged his emotions, he created a synthezoid family and moved to Arlington, Virginia in order to become the Avengers' White House liaison. The family became instant celebrities, with their neighbors constantly seeking pictures, which they shared online. This caught the attention of Eric, who became upset that Vision would create a family that appeared to be happy, when the Williams family wasn't, as well as the fact that the Vision's brainwaves were taken from his brother Simon in the first place. One night while their father was away with the Avengers, the Grim Reaper broke into the Vision's home, running his daughter, Viv, through with his scythe. Her twin brother, Vin, rushed to her aid, but he too was struck down. Their mother, Virginia, then flew into a rage and seemingly beat Eric to death in front of her wounded children with a cookie sheet on their kitchen floor. | Powers = Originally, the Grim Reaper was a purely technological-based villain with no innate super-human abilities. * Necromancy: When he was resurrected he gained some mystical powers allowing hi to re-animate the souls and bodies of the dead, either through Voodoo training received from Black Talon or powers bestowed upon him by Lloigoroth. The Grim Reaper has also performed various magically-based feats including but not limited to: teleporting himself and others, summoning demons, creating illusions & clairvoyant viewing. } | Abilities = | Strength = The Reaper's physical strength is supernaturally heightened slightly beyond the natural limitations of the human body. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = * Jet-Equipped Platform | Weapons = * Grim Reaper's Scythe: His right hand has been amputated and replaced with his trademark weapon had the ability to make the blade spin at rapid speed, making the weapon usable as a buzz-saw, missile shield, and an improvised helicopter. It could also fire energy blasts and gas pellets, and dispense electric stun shocks on touch. Later he received a magical scythe. The scythe is magically sharp and is capable of energy blasts (much like the original), but has also been used to drain energy. | Notes = * Grim Reaper was featured in the battle between the Marvel and the DC Universe. | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Reaper_%28comics%29 | Links = * http://www.leaderslair.com/marvelvillains/reaper.html }} Category:Clairvoyance Category:Necromancy Category:Illusionists Category:Teleporters Category:One Hand Category:Avengers Villains Eric Williams (Earth-616) Category:Williams Family Category:Formerly Deceased Category:Dark Reign casualties Category:Cyborgs Category:Transformed by the Death Seed Category:Wonder Man Villains Category:Killed by Rogue Category:Voodoo